A Spotlight on Betrayal

I’m fessing up: I didn’t read Betrayal. Mainly because I saw “Spotlight” and was afraid reading the book would be redundant. As it turns out, after talking with some of the other Bookly Clubbers, I might need to keep it on my TBR list. But in lieu of a book review, I’m here to give you my thoughts on the movie, which I was thrilled to see win Best Picture at the Oscars this year.

Saying I enjoyed this movie sounds a bit strange since it’s such a disturbing story, but you know what I mean. So let’s get to what I liked/didn’t like, bullet point style.

As much as I LOVE Rachel McAdams (and I really really like her), I thought her performance was a bit meh. She has a tendency to play characters that don’t seem to push her far beyond just playing Rachel McAdams. But still, I’ll see [almost] any move with her in it. (Note: DO NOT see “Aloha.”)

Mark Ruffalo was GREAT. I thought he played the character well, and made Michael’s neuroses relatable and endearing. (Not sure if that aspect of his character was true to life or not.)

While I normally get frustrated at movies that are 2+ hours, this was just a FEW minutes over and didn’t feel that long. The pace was good, despite the fact that there weren’t big revelations or dramatic moments until the very end.

The Grandma at the end? That’s when the tears started. Until that point I think I’d been holding my breath.

The last few screens listing the number of affected children in each city was, for me, the most poignant and effective part of the entire two hours and nine minutes. Both my husband and I left the theaters in stunned silence with tears in our eyes.

Needless to say, I loved this movie. Everything from the acting to the pacing to the last few minutes left an impact. If you haven’t seen it, what are you waiting for?

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When they showed the names of all the cities, I burst out into tears. Then they showed another screen of cities. And then another. It was, for me, the most powerful part of the movie. That’s never happened to me before. Glad to see that someone else shared my reaction.